Light Transmitted Assay Beads

ABSTRACT

A micro bead having a digitally coded structure that is partially transmissive and opaque to light. The pattern of transmitted light is determined by to decode the bead. The coded bead may be structured a series of alternating light transmissive and opaque sections, with relative positions, widths and spacing resembling a 1D or 2D bar code image. To decode the image, the alternating transmissive and opaque sections of the body are scanned in analogous fashion to bar code scanning. The coded bead may be coated or immobilized with a capture or probe to effect a desired bioassay. The coded bead may include a paramagnetic material. A bioanalysis system conducts high throughput bioanalysis using the coded bead, including a reaction detection zone and a decoding zone.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/502,606, filed Aug. 9, 2006, which claims thebenefit of the priority of Provisional Patent Application No.60/706,896, which was filed Aug. 9, 2005. This provisional applicationis fully incorporated by reference, as if fully set forth herein. Allother publications and U.S. patent applications disclosed herein beloware also incorporated by reference, as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to assay beads and methods for usethereof to carry out bioassays, and more particularly multiplexedbioassays using micro-volume samples, such as protein and nucleic acidanalysis.

2. Description of Related Art

As current research in genomics and proteomics produces more multiplexeddata, there is a need for technologies that can rapidly screen a largenumber of nucleic acids and proteins in a very small volume of samples.Microarray, DNA chips, and protein chips have drawn a great deal ofcommercial interest. The assays are typically performed on a planarbiochip platform by arraying and immobilizing DNA on a solid support viamechanical printing in the x-y position onto the microscope slide, bypiezoelectric ink-jetting or by direct synthesis of DNA on the chip.However, mechanical contact printing is not very attractive because itis printed one spot per contact that results in relatively largeprinting variations from spot to spot or batch to batch, inconsistentspot morphology, misprinting, and slide surface variations, all of whichare undesirable for DNA microarray analysis. Further, distributing asmall volume of liquid samples over a relatively large chip surfaceoften encounters the problems of insufficient sample amounts ornon-uniform distribution over the chip surface. These problems can causeincomplete reactions or very long reaction time.

Micro bead technology potentially overcomes many of the problems ofmicroarray technology and provides better quality control of each probe,flexibility with the assembly of various type and amount of probes in ananalysis, and convenience of doing analysis without mechanical printing.Existing micro bead approaches include (1) the incorporation of beads orparticles with spectrally distinguishable fluorophore, fluorescentsemiconductor quantum dots, (2) metallic rods with either bar codedcolor (absorption) stripes or black and white strips, and (3) embossingor compressing 1D or 2D image patterns on the bead. Both fluorescenceand barcode strip beads are identified by optical detection inreflective or emissive configuration. The problems of reflectionconfiguration are (1) it is difficult to setup the collection optics inproper position, especially when the beads are in micrometer scale, and(2) the light collection efficiency is poor and the barcode contrast islow, especially when micro beads are in the micro flow system. The flowscatters light, which interferes with optical reflection or emissivedetection. Further, fluorescent beads, the spectral range and thepossible number of spectrally distinguishable labels, however, oftenlimit the potential number of code variations. Many laser light sourcesare often needed to excite different fluorescent labels. In addition,the validity of the coding signatures is another serious concern, sincethe incorporated coding elements in some cases may be lost; photobleached, or interfered spectrally with the analytical signals. In thecase of multi-metal (Au, Pt, Ni, Ag, etc) color micro rods, the encodingscheme suffers from the difficulty of manufacturing and the number ofcolors, based on different metal materials, is limited. Many 1D or 2Dbar codes are recognized by their specific image patterns. Opticalimaging method is used for recognition of these bar code patterns.Although high speed camera is available for capturing bar code images,pattern recognition is a slow and time consuming process. It often needsspecial software to analyze the images section by section. Therefore, itis difficult to identify hundreds or thousands of beads in a short timeto improve throughput. The following patent documents disclose some ofthe systems that exhibit some of the deficiencies noted above.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,886 issued on Aug. 10, 2004, entire contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a form of barcoding comprising 30-300 nm diameter by 400-4000 nm multilayer multimetal rods. These rods are constructed by electrodeposition into analumina mold; thereafter the alumina is removed leaving these smallmultilayer objects behind. The system can have up to 12 zones encoded,in up to 7 different metals, where the metals have differentreflectivity and thus appear lighter or darker in an optical microscopedepending on the metal type whereas assay readout is by fluorescencefrom the target, and the identity of the probe is from the light darkpattern of the barcodes.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,307 issued on Oct. 7, 2003, entire contents of whichare incorporated herein by reference, discloses semiconductornano-crystals acting as a barcode, wherein each semiconductornanocrystal produces a distinct emissions spectrum. These characteristicemissions can be observed as colors, if in the visible region of thespectrum, or may be decoded to provide information about the particularwavelength at which the discrete transition is observed.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,734,420 issued on May 11, 2004, entire contents of whichare incorporated herein by reference, discloses an identification systemcomprising a plurality of identifiable elements associated with labels,the labels including markers for generating wavelength/intensity spectrain response to excitation energy, and an analyzer for identifying theelements from the wavelength/intensity spectra of the associated labels.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,620 issued on Feb. 26, 2002, discloses a method ofproducing a micro carrier employing the shape, size, and color of thecarrier as image bar codes for identification. The patent discloses anidentification system comprising a bar code is formed on the substrateby photolithography, and then using nickel plates to hot compress thebar code onto the surface of bead to form a microcake-like particle. Thebar code pattern can be classified by an imaging recognition system.

U.S. Pub. No. US2005/0003556 A1, entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference, discloses an identification systemusing optical graphics, for example, bar codes or dot matrix bar codesand color signals based on color information signal for producing theaffinity reaction probe beads. The color pattern is decoded in opticalreflection mode.

U.S. Pub. No. US2005/0244955, entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference, discloses a micro-pallet which includes a smallflat surface designed for single adherent cells to plate, a cell platingregion designed to protect the cells, and shaping designed to enable orimprove flow-through operation. The micro-pallet is preferably patternedin a readily identifiable manner and sized to accommodate a single cellto which it is comparable in size.

What is needed is a digitally encoded micro bead that provides for highcontrast and high signal-to-noise detection, and that provides forparallel and high-throughput bioanalysis, e.g., of proteins, pathogens,gene expression, single nucleotide polymorphism, nucleic acid-basedtissue typing, cell or chromosome sorting, and transcriptional profilingthat requires smaller volumes of fluid and rapid assay.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a bead or pallet that is digitallycoded as represented by an image that provides for high contrast andhigh signal-to-noise optical detection to facilitate identification ofthe bead. The image is implemented by a physical structure having apattern that is partially substantially transmissive (e.g., transparent,translucent, and/or pervious to light), and partially substantiallyopaque (e.g., reflective and/or absorptive to light) to light. Thepattern of transmitted light is determined (e.g., by scanning orimaging), the code represented by the image on the coded bead can bedecoded.

In one embodiment, the coded bead comprises a body having a series ofalternating light transmissive and opaque sections, with relativepositions, widths and spacing resembling a 1D or 2D bar code image(e.g., a series of narrow slits (e.g., 5 microns in width) representinga “0” code and wide slits (e.g., 10 microns in width) representing a “1”code, or vice versa). To decode the image, the alternating transmissiveand opaque sections of the body are scanned with light (in analogousfashion to a bar code scanning process) or imaged (e.g., with a CCDsensor) to determine the code represented by the image determined fromthe transmitted light.

In one embodiment, the coded bead comprises a body having a series ofalternating light transmissive and opaque sections, with relative widthsbar code image (e.g., a series of narrow slits representing a “0” codeand wide slits representing a “1” code, or vice versa). When the bead isilluminated with a light beam, based on the either the “total intensity”of the transmission peak or the “bandwidth” of the transmission peakfrom the slit, the digital barcode either 0 or 1 can be determined by aline scan camera, a frame grabber, and a digital signal processor.

In one embodiment, the bar code pattern with a series of narrow and widebands provides an unambiguous signal and differentiation for 0's and1's. The position of the slits on the pallet will determine which of thebits is the least significant (LSB) and most significant bit (MSB). TheLSB will be placed closer to the edge of the pallet to distinguish itfrom the MSB at the other, longer end.

In one embodiment, the coded bead is provided with a reflective thinfilm, (e.g., plating or coating the coded bead with a metal thin film,or providing an intermediate layer of metal thin film) to improvecontrast and optical efficiency for image recognition for decoding.

One alternate embodiment may include a metal layer as a layer sandwichedbetween two polymeric layers, by appropriately modifying the abovedescribed process. With this embodiment, surface condition could be madethe same for both exposed planar surfaces of the bead, to providesimilar surface coating and immobilization conditions. Anotherembodiment is to coat the bead with polymer or functional molecules,such as biotin, carboxylated, or streptavidin; therefore, the whole beadhas the same condition for molecular immobilization.

In one embodiment, the body of the coded bead may be configured to haveat least two orthogonal cross sections that are different in relativegeometry and/or size. Further, the geometry of the cross sections may besymmetrical or non-symmetrical, and/or regular or irregular shape. Inone embodiment, the longest orthogonal axis of the coded bead is lessthan 1 mm.

In another aspect of the present invention, a microfluidic apparatuscomprises a micro flow channel sized and configured to guide coded beadsto advance one at a time pass a decoding. The decoding zone includes acode detector (a light scanner, a CCD sensor, etc.) that detects thepattern of transmitted light through each coded bead for decoding thecode represented by the image thereon. The flow channel of themicrofluidic apparatus has an internal cross section that has a geometrythat is sized and shaped to receive and allow the coded bead to passthrough when a particular cross section of the coded bead is alignedwith the cross section of the micro flow channel, thereby presenting thecoded bead in a particular orientation with respect to the decodingzone. In one embodiment, the geometry of the internal cross section ofthe flow channel is sized and shaped to receive and allow the coded beadto pass through when the smallest cross section of the coded bead isaligned with the micro flow channel (e.g., the long axis of the codedbead is aligned with the axis of the flow channel). The microfluidicapparatus may include more than one micro flow channel, to providedecoding of coded beads in parallel channels.

In another aspect of the present invention, a microfluidic apparatuscomprises a micro flow channel sized and configured to guide coded beadsto advance one at a time pass a decoding. The decoding zone includes acode detector (a light scanner, a CCD sensor, etc.) that detects thepattern of transmitted light through each coded bead for decoding thecode represented by the image thereon. The flow channel of themicrofluidic apparatus has an internal cross section that has a geometrythat is sized and shaped to receive and allow the coded bead to passthrough when a particular cross section of the coded bead is alignedwith the cross section of the micro flow channel, thereby presenting thecoded bead in a particular orientation with respect to the decodingzone. In one embodiment, the geometry of the internal cross section ofthe flow channel is sized and shaped to receive and allow the coded beadto pass through when the smallest cross section of the coded bead isaligned with the micro flow channel (e.g., the long axis of the codedbead is aligned with the axis of the flow channel). The microfluidicapparatus may include more than one micro flow channel, to providedecoding of coded beads in parallel channels.

In another aspect of the present invention, a microfluidic apparatuscomprises a sheath flow system to provide steady and stable bead flowthrough the optical detection area. The sheath system includes one coreflow, which carries the barcode beads, and two sheath flows, on thesides of or about or around the outer periphery of the core flow, pullthe core flow into a proper dimension. The sheath flows, at much higherspeed, can be pushed or pulled by vacuum, gravity, or pressure. By thismethod, the coded bead will align themselves in line and flow reliably,without wobbling or flipping, in the core flow channel through thedetection zone. By adjusting the relative flow rate of core flow andsheath flows, the coded beads flow reliably in the flow system, thus itcan be decoded and detected by an optical system accurately.

In another aspect of the present invention, the optical detection systemconsists of at least one illumination light source for barcodeillumination and fluorescence detection. The wavelength of fluorescenceexcitation light source depends on the selection of the fluorophore. Forexample, a line scan CCD camera for barcode detection providescontinuously scan at a rate of 65,000 scans/second. By proper adjustingthe flow rate, each bead will be scanner several times under theillumination zone. Photon detector, such as photonmultiplier tube, hasthe fast detection rate, such as 100 MHz. It is possible to quicklydetect the barcode and fluorescence beads in the high speed flow system.

The identity of the bead may be associated with other properties and/orcharacteristics. In another aspect of the present invention, the codedbead is coated or immobilized with a biological and/or chemicalsubstance, as a specific capture or probe to effect a desired bioassayor identification application. A plurality of beads may be applied toconduct multiplexed bioassays. For example the bead may befunctionalized with a material selected from the group consisting ofproteins, nucleic acids, small molecules, organic chemicals, inorganicchemicals, and combinations thereof, allowing for the possibility ofmultiplexed assays in homogeneous or heterogeneous media, usingmicro-volume samples.

In a further aspect of the present invention, a bioanalysis system isconfigured and structured for conducting bioanalysis using the codedbead of the present invention. The microfluidic system comprises themicrofluidic apparatus to facilitate high throughput homogeneous orheterogeneous analysis. A detection zone of the microfluidic apparatusincludes a reaction detector (e.g., a fluorescence detector, anabsorption detector, a chemiluminescent detector, etc.) for detectingthe result of reactions taken place on the coded beads. In oneembodiment, the assay of the microfluidic system is configured andadapted for high-throughput analysis for immunoassay, gene expression,Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) diagnostics, DNA-based tissuetyping, or transcriptional profiling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the scope and nature of the invention, aswell as the preferred mode of use, reference should be made to thefollowing detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. In the following drawings, like reference numerals designatelike or similar parts throughout the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates the process for preparing Light Transmitted AssayBeads (LITAB) for bioassay, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention: (a) Multiple LITAB in a tube, (b) LITAB for bioassay,and (c) a photo image of LITABs.

FIG. 2( a) is a top view of a LITAB in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention; FIG. 2( b) is a sectional view taken along lineA-A in FIG. 2( a); FIG. 2( c) is a top view of 10-digit barcode beads ona wafer; FIG. 2( d) shows the transmitted digital signal of a barcodedbead representing 0010110101.

FIG. 3 illustrates the optical signal pulses representing lighttransmitted through the pattern of slits in a LITAB.

FIG. 4( a) illustrates a microfluidic apparatus in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4( b) illustrates amicrofluidic apparatus that comprises a sheath flow system.

FIG. 5 illustrates a bioanalysis system comprising a microfluidicapparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the steps of forming a bead in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7, illustrates a metal layer as a layer sandwiched between twopolymeric layers that may provide the same surface chemistry formolecule immobilization.

FIG. 8 illustrates a microfluidic apparatus in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present description is of the best presently contemplated mode ofcarrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose ofillustrating the general principles of the invention and should not betaken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determinedby reference to the appended claims.

For purposes of illustrating the principles of the present invention andnot by limitation, the present invention is described herein below byreference to a micro bead that is in the shape of a pallet, and byreference to bioanalysis. However, it is understood that the presentinvention is equally applicable to micro beads of other overallgeometries, and which are applied for other applications requiringidentification based on the identity of the beads, without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the present invention. To facilitatediscussion below, the micro bead of the present invention is referred toas a LITAB, which stands for a light transmitted assay bead.

1. Coded Bead

In one aspect of the present invention, a micro bead is digitally codedas represented by an image that provides for high contrast and highsignal-to-noise optical detection to facilitate identification of thebead. The image is implemented by a physical structure having a patternthat is partially substantially transmissive (e.g., transparent,translucent, and/or pervious to light), and partially substantiallyopaque (e.g., reflective and/or absorptive to light) to light. Thepattern of transmitted light is determined (e.g., by scanning orimaging), and the code represented by the image on the coded bead can bedecoded.

In one embodiment, the coded bead comprises a body having a series ofalternating light transmissive and opaque sections, with relativepositions, widths and/or spacing resembling a 1D or 2D bar code image(e.g., a series of narrow slits (e.g., about 1 to 5 microns in width)representing a “0” code and wide slits (e.g., about 1 to 10 microns inwidth) representing a “1” code, or vice versa, to form a binary code).FIG. 2 illustrates a coded bead, LITAB 11 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The LITAB 11 has a body 25 in theshape of a flat pallet or disc. The body of the coded bead may beconfigured to have at least two orthogonal cross sections that aredifferent in relative geometry and/or size. Further; the geometry of thecross sections may be symmetrical or non-symmetrical, and/or regular orirregular shape. In this particular embodiment, all three orthogonalaxes are of different lengths, and the geometries of all threeorthogonal cross sections are symmetrical and of regular shape. FIG. 2(a) shows that the planar geometry resembles a symmetrical stretchedoval. FIG. 2( b) shows the cross section showing the longitudinal (orlongest) axis. A series of wide and narrow slits 23 and 24 are providedthrough the body 25, which may be made of or coated with a substantiallylight opaque material (e.g., reflective or absorptive). The wide andnarrow slits 23 and 24 represent a logical “1” and “0”, respectively, orvice versa, and collectively represent a binary code (each slitrepresenting a bit). In this embodiment, the code is analogous to a barcode. The narrow slits may have a width of 5 microns, and the wide slits24 may have a width of 10 microns. For a LITAB having an overalldimension of 100×50×10 μm to 200 μm×100 μm×20 μm, at least about 10slits may be provided on the disc to encode 10 bits, allowing 1,024 to4,096 or more unique codes. In one embodiment, the longest orthogonalaxis of the coded bead is less than 1 mm.

While the illustrated embodiment shows a pattern of slits of spacedapart narrow and wide width, it is also possible to use a pattern ofslits having a constant width which are spaced apart at narrow and widespacings between adjacent slits to represent 1's and 0's, withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present invention. FIG. 2( c)shows 10-digit LITABs on a wafer. The slit dimensions are 10 μm and 20μm representing “1” and “0”, respectively. FIG. 2( d) shows thetransmission peaks of a single bead on the computer screen. When thebead is illuminated with a light beam, based on the either the “totalintensity” of the transmission peak or the “bandwidth” of thetransmission peak from the slit, the digital barcode either 0 or 1 canbe determined by a line scan camera and a digital signal processor.Based on the figure, the barcode patterns can be easily identified basedon the peak widths. The beads show 10-digit barcodes representing0010110101.

To decode the image, the alternating transmissive and opaque sections ofthe body are scanned with light (in analogous fashion to a bar codescanning process) or imaged (e.g., with a CCD sensor) to determine thecode represented by the image determined from the transmitted light. Forillustration purposes, FIG. 3 shows a series of signal pulsesrepresenting the detection of light transmitted through the slits 23 and24 in the LITAB 11 in FIG. 2( a). The signal pulses correspond to thecontrast of transmitted versus blocked light across the longitudinalaxis of the LITAB 11. The width of each signal pulses represents a “1”or a “0” in the code of the LITAB 11. In the particular illustratedexample, the wider pulses represent 1's and the narrow pulses represent0's. The relative positions of the slits on the LITAB 11 determine whichof the bits is the least significant bit (LSB) or the most significantbit (MSB). In one embodiment, the least significant bit was placedcloser to one edge or end of the LITAB 11 to distinguish it from themost significant bit at the opposing edge or end. The concept ofdecoding the signal pulses is analogous to decoding for a traditionalbar code.

In another embodiment, the size of the LITAB is sized and configured tobe 150×50×10 μm, or proportionally smaller, and a slit width of about2.5 μm. Each code on such a LITAB can consist of up to 14 slits (orbits), allowing 16,384 unique codes.

It is noted that in an alternate embodiment, the substantialtransmissive section need not be a slit through the entire thickness ofthe body of the LITAB. The slit may be completely or partially filledwith a substantially transparent or translucent material, whichnonetheless provides substantially light transmissivity, compared to theopaque section. For example, the LITAB may have a transparent body,covered with a light blocking material (e.g., a reflective material, ora light reflective or absorptive dye) that has openings defining slitsexposing the transparent body. Light imagined on this LITAB wouldtransmit light through the body at sections not covered by the blockingmaterial (i.e., the slits), and block light in the covered section.

It is further noted that in the context of the concept of the presentinvention, the substantially opaque section need not completely blocklight transmission. It can be a section that substantially blocks lightby substantially absorbing light or substantially reflecting light. Thedesign concept is to achieve a high contrast in optical imaging, byrelying on the high contrast of light transmissivity between thesubstantially transmissive section and the substantially opaque section.Compared to reflective or emissive bar code imaging practiced in theprior art, the present invention can achieve significantly highercontrast in the optical image, by detecting transmitted light inreference to blocked light. Also, in the context of the presentinvention, light transmissivity and opaqueness are reference to theparticular frequency of the light from the anticipated light source tobe used. For example, the opaque section may substantially block UVlight, but may substantially transmit light outside the UV band.Similarly, the transmissive section may substantially transmit UV light,but may substantially block light outside the UV band.

In another embodiment, the coded LITAB can be provided with a reflectivethin film or coating, (e.g., plating or coating the surface of the LITABwith a metal thin film, or providing an intermediate, sandwiched layerof metal thin film, or coating with a light absorptive dye) to improvecontrast between transmitted versus blocked/reflected light and opticalefficiency for image recognition for decoding, as discussed furtherdiscussed below.

The LITAB 11 may be fabricated using conventional methods used in thinfilm formation in a clean room microfabrication facility. The structureof the LITAB 11 may be obtained using processes that may includeconventional photo-lithography, printing, silk-screening, curing,developing, etching (e.g., chemical etching, ion etching, and/or otherremoving processes), plating, dicing, and other process steps well knownin the art for such types of structure and the material involved. Thedetails of the steps in these processes have been omitted, as they mayinvolve conventional patterning and photolithographic steps well knownin semiconductor and/or micro-structure processing. The specificfabrication steps and materials involved, other than those specificsteps and materials mentioned herein, when viewed alone are not a partof the present invention. It is noted that even though the disclosureherein may, by way of examples and not limitations, refer to specificcoating, formation, patterning, deposition or other processes inconnection with certain layers or structures, other processes may besubstituted without departing from the scope and spirit of the presentinvention. There may be intermediate or interposing layers, coatings, orother structures present, and associated process steps present, whichare not shown or discussed herein, but could be included withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein.For example, there may be buffer layers, primer layers, seed layers,adhesives, coatings, surface finishes, or other structures present.Other variations may be implemented without departing from the scope andspirit of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6( a) to (d), in one embodiment of the process forfabricating the LITAB, a layer 52 of Ti (e.g., 100 nm) is deposited bye-beam evaporation on a substrate 50, e.g., a clean glass slide (e.g.,about 1 mm thick). Ti functions as a conducting seed layer as well as asurrogate releasing layer. The body 25 of the LITAB 11 may be formedusing a layer of polymeric material. For example, a photoresistphotopolymer (e.g., SU-8 and the like, as known in the art), may beutilized in creating the LITABs 11. A layer 21 of polymeric material isspin-coated on the Ti layer 52, and the slits 23 and 24 are formed insuch layer using standard photolithographic procedures. For example, theslits 23 and 24 may be defined by UV-light irradiation using a photomask(not shown) defining the desired pattern of wide and narrow slits, andthe planar shape of the LITAB body 25. An array of LITABs 11 may beformed on a single substrate, each having a different slit patternrepresenting a different code. The photomask may also define theperiphery of the array of LITAB bodies, such that the LITAB bodies areseparated from one another at the end of the same photolithographicprocess that defines the slits. Because SU-8 is transparent, an e-beamevaporator is utilized to deposit a gold (Au, 0.1 μm) top layer 22 (seealso FIG. 1( b)) on the SU-8 layer 21 supported on the substrate 50. Theindividual LITAB bodies 25 (shown in FIG. 2( b)) are finally freed fromthe underlying substrate 50 by dissolving the surrogate Ti layer 52 withan etching solution containing hydrofluoric acid (HF). The SU-8 LITABwill retain the gold coating because HF does not attack gold. In thisway, the gold pattern on the LITAB blocks light by reflecting light(directed to both from the side exposed and the side adjacent to theSU-8 layer 21), and slits not covered by gold layer transmit light.Because the gold layer 22 blocks the light, while the open slitstransmit the light, LITAB “bar codes” provide high optical signal, andhigh optical contrast when the transmitted light is detected.

An alternate embodiment may include a metal or a reflective non-metallayer as a layer sandwiched between two polymeric layers, byappropriately modifying the above described process. With thisembodiment, surface condition could be made the same for both exposedplanar surfaces of the LITAB, to provide similar surface coating andimmobilization conditions, as will be discussed below. As in theprevious embodiment, the thin metal layer enhances the signal contrastratio of the transmitted light detection.

FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment of a LITAB 80, which may include ametal layer 81 as a layer sandwiched between two SU-8 layers 82. Abarcode pattern is fabricated on the metal layer 81. For example, slits84 of different widths and/or spacings are formed in the metal layer 81.In the illustrated embodiment, the SU-8 layers 82 are closed layers(i.e., no slits). The process for forming the LITAB 80 may include firstforming a first SU-8 layer 82, then forming the metal layer 81 followedby etching the slits 84 therein. A second SU-8 layer 82 is formed on themetal layer 81 (e.g., by spin coating and curing), which fills the slits84. Alternatively, the slits 84 may be first filled with anothertransparent material, before forming the second SU-8 layer 82. With thisembodiment, surface condition could be made the same for both exposedplanar surfaces of the LITAB, to provide similar surface coating andimmobilization conditions. The other embodiment is to coat the LITABwith polymer or functional molecules, such as biotin, carboxylated, orstreptavidin; therefore, the whole bead has the same condition formolecular immobilization.

To facilitate bioassays as will be apparent from further discussionbelow in connection with the microfluidic system, a paramagneticmaterial may be coated or imbedded in the LITAB (e.g., as a surface orintermediate layer in the LITAB, mixed into the material of the LITAB,or at one end of the LITAB). Because paramagnetic materials have arelatively small and positive susceptibility to the magnetic field, theLITAB can be immobilized at a desired location by an external magneticfield, and the LITAB can be mobilized when the external field isremoved. Paramagnetic materials include magnesium, molybdenum, lithium,aluminum, nickel, and tantalum. The incorporation of magnetic materialsinto the LITAB offers the ability to immobilize the LITAB to facilitatewashing, and potentially detection of the transmitted light. Referencemay be made to paramagnetic latex beads, which are commonly used inautomated diagnostic systems, especially when the processes require awashing step. However, for prior art micro beads with reflective barcoding, no magnetic material has been incorporated. This is because themagnetic material being inherently dark, would not be compatible withthe reflective bar code, which requires alternating dark and whitelines. It is noted that the paramagnetic coating on the LITAB would alsofunction as a light blocking material, so a reflective layer may not benecessary. The present invention would allow decoding based ontransmitted light, even in the presence of the paramagnetic material.

2. Synthesis of LITAB

The identity of the LITAB may be associated with other properties and/orcharacteristics for purpose of bioassays, for example. In another aspectof the present invention, the coded LITAB is coated or immobilized witha biological and/or chemical substance, as a specific capture or probeto effect a desired bioassay or identification application. A pluralityof beads may be applied to conduct multiplexed bioassays. For examplethe bead may be functionalized with a material selected from the groupconsisting of proteins, nucleic acids, small molecules, organicchemicals, inorganic chemicals, and combinations thereof, allowing forthe possibility of multiplexed assays in homogeneous or heterogeneousmedia, using micro-volume samples.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment for preparing LITAB for bioassays. Asshown in FIG. 1( a), the LITABs 11 allow multiplexed homogeneousbioassays on micro-volume samples. A mixture of LITABs 11 correspondingto different codes 14 are introduced into a small volume of biologicalsample 12 in a tube 13. The LITABs can be optically decoded easily andrapidly thereafter. In one embodiment, FIG. 1( b) shows one LITAB 11functionalizing with nucleic acid probe 15 for target hybridization 16and fluorescence detection 17. Several materials are available for beadimmobilization. In one embodiment, the LITAB may be coated with acovalent DNA-binding agent used in microarray. The probe beads weresubsequently hybridized in solution to a complementary oligo targetwhich carried a covalently bound Cy5 fluorophore at its 5′ end. FIGS. 1(c) is an image of LITABs (size 200 μm×100 μm×20 μm) captured with avideo microscope.

It is necessary for the LITAB material to have a similar or lowerdensity than water or the intended solution used. Therefore, the LITABs11 can homogeneously suspend in the aqueous solution for reactions. TheLITAB material is configured to have about the same density as theliquid medium enabling the bead to suitably float in the medium. Inaddition, the material should be strong enough to be able to resistdeformation that may result from sheer stresses during mixing and thelike processes. As noted above, the body of the LITABs 11 may be made ofa photoresist photopolymer such as the SU-8 photoresist polymer.

3. LITAB in Microfluidic System

In another aspect of the present invention, a microfluidic apparatuscomprises a micro flow channel sized and configured to guide coded LITABto advance one at a time pass a decoding zone. The decoding zoneincludes a code detector (a light scanner, a CCD sensor, etc.) thatdetects the pattern of transmitted light through each coded LITAB fordecoding the code represented by the image thereon. The flow channel ofthe microfluidic apparatus has an internal cross section that has ageometry that is sized and shaped to receive and allow the coded LITABto pass through when a particular cross section of the coded LITAB isaligned with the cross section of the micro flow channel, therebypresenting the coded LITAB in a particular orientation with respect tothe decoding zone. In one embodiment, the geometry of the internal crosssection of the flow channel is sized and shaped to receive and allow thecoded LITAB to pass through when the smallest cross section of the codedLITAB is aligned with the micro flow channel (e.g., the long axis of thecoded bead is aligned with the axis of the flow channel). Themicrofluidic apparatus may include more than one micro flow channel, toprovide decoding of coded LITABs in parallel channels.

FIG. 4( a) illustrates an embodiment of a microfluidic apparatus 31 thatis designed to decode the code of the LITAB 11. The microfluidicapparatus includes a micro flow channel 32 having a rectangular internalcross section sized and shaped to accommodate a single LITAB 11 in aspecific desired orientation (in this case the longitudinal axis of theLITAB 11 is along the axis of the flow channel and the planar surface ofthe LITAB 11 is generally concentric to the wall of the channel) to flowpass a particular point in the channel. For example, the flow channelmay be formed in a substrate by etching (see FIG. 8, for example). Asolution carrying the LITABs flows through the micro flow channel 32,thereby causing the LITABs to flow through the micro channel 32 (e.g.,in the laminar flow stream of the solution). The inlet of the micro flowchannel 22 is tapered to guide the LITABs to align their longitudinalaxis with the channel axis. In other words, the tapered channel inletgeometry is sized and configured to have an internal cross section witha dimension smaller than the dimension of the longitudinal axis of theLITAB 11. In another embodiment, the cross section of the micro flowchannel may be axisymmetrical (e.g., a circle having a diameter largeenough to accommodate the width of the LITAB 11).

The LITAB pass through a decoding zone one at a time. A decoding system,positioned with respect to the decoding zone, includes a light sourceand an optical sensor. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 4( a), thelight source may be a diode laser 33 at 650 nm wavelength, with a 50×objective lens 34, and the optical sensor may be a high-speed photondetector 35 and digital readout electronics 36. Alternatively, an arealight source (e.g., a laser beam having a large enough spot size) may beused to project light to simultaneously cover the entire area of thecoded pattern (all the slits) on the LITAB 11, and an area opticalsensor such as a CCD sensor may be used to image simultaneously theentire coded pattern and the light transmitted therethrough.Alternatively, a line scan camera may be used for the optical sensor.

As the LITABs pass through the decoding zone, light from the laser 33 istransmitted through the light intensity is detected by the photondetector and directly converted into 1's and 0's using thresholddetection (no analog to digital conversion needed), thereby simplifyingthe electronics requirements. The position of the slits on the LITABdetermines which of the bits is the least significant (LSB) and mostsignificant bit (MSB). The slight orientation variation of the LITAB inthe confined microchannel would not significantly affect the efficiencyof the optical detection and consequent decoding.

More than one decoding zone having a separate decoding system may beprovided along the micro flow channel 32, which may be used fordetection redundancy. Further, the decoding system may include more thanone set of light source and optical sensor. For example, two sets oflight sources and optical sensors may be configured with orthogonallight paths through the micro flow channel 32. This decoding systemwould be useful if the cross section of the micro flow channel isaxisymmetical (e.g., circular cross section), such that the LITAB 11 maysubstantially rotate about the flow axis. Orthogonal axis decodingoptics would improve orientation of the slits in relation to at leastone of the decoding axis.

The flow rate through the micro flow channel may be made adjustable byusing and controlling an external vacuum exhaust line pulling the flowor an external pressure supply pushing the flow. For example, an optimalflow velocity (e.g. 0.1-10 μl/s) is adjusted to secure LITAB integrityduring the transportation process.

The digital readout electronic 36 (MHz-GHz) may control a line scancamera using a microcontroller or digital signal processor, whichcollects data from the optical sensor 35 when triggered and gated. Thedigital processor reads the stream of 1's and 0's that represent lightintensities at intervals of 100 μs, for example, and perform rapidpattern recognition to determine the slit width sequence, based on thespacing between 1's and 0's. The LITABs 11 are configured to move at aspeed of about 10-30 mm/sec, so that readout only requires about 7milliseconds per LITAB. The readout throughput for 100,000 LITABs with10 ms/per LITAB would require about 16 minutes per assay.Data-processing steps may be implemented by algorithms using digitalsignal-processing software, including a c-code that quickly andefficiently processes each pattern. Details of such software are notdiscussed herein, since it can be developed by one skill in the art,given the functions and processes discussed herein.

An electromagnet (not shown) may be provided at the decoding zone,adjacent the micro flow channel 32, to temporarily immobilize the LITAB11 for decoding, especially if a line scan camera is used to decode theLITAB 11. The LITAB 11, which comprises a paramagnetic material, isimmobilized in the flow stream by turning on the electromagnet, and isallowed to flow down the channel by turning off the electromagnet.

The microfluidic apparatus 31 has at least two advantages: (1) it makesprecise centering of the LITAB possible, thus establishing the basis forhydrodynamic illumination; and (2) it reduce the possibility of LITABstacking across the flow stream. If we assume 1,000 LITAB in a 200 μlsolution, the average spacing between beads is approximately 10 cm inthe micro flow channel. It is important to have proper LITABconcentration, to ensure that the LITABs can smoothly flow into themicro flow channel 32 for optical detection. It is comparable to that ofa standard cylindrical flow cell, such as flow cytometric techniquescurrently in use for such applications as fluorescence cell imaging.

FIG. 4( b) illustrates another embodiment of a microfluidic apparatusthat comprises a sheath flow system 70 to provide steady and stable beadflow through the optical detection area. The sheath system includes onecore flow 71, which carries the barcode beads 73, and sheath flows 72,on the side of or about or around the outer periphery of the core flow71, pulls the core flow 71 into a desired dimension. The beads are mixedin the solution in a container 76, which has a funnel 77 to deliver thebeads into the core flow. To avoid the bead clogging, slightly beadagitation may be provided. Since the bead container can be fairly largein relative to the core flow, a micro tube can be used as an interfacebetween the macroscopic container and microscopic core flow. The sheathflow, which carries liquid, such as water is at much higher speed, canbe pushed or pulled by vacuum, gravity, or pressure. By adjusting therelative flow rate of core flow and sheath flow, the width 75 of thecore flow can be optimized for the bead dimension. By this method, thebeads will align themselves in-line and flow reliably, without wobblingor flipping, in the core flow channel through the detection zone.

FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of a microfluidic apparatus, whichprovides another perspective of the overall inventive system andprocess.

4. Micro Bead Fluorescence Detection

In a further aspect of the present invention, a bioanalysis system isconfigured and structured for conducting bioanalysis using the codedbead of the present invention. The microfluidic system comprises themicrofluidic apparatus to facilitate high throughput homogeneous orheterogeneous analysis. The detection zone of the microfluidic apparatusfurther includes a reaction detector (e.g., a fluorescence detector, anabsorption detector, a chemiluminescent detector, etc.) for detectingthe result of reactions taken place on the coded beads. In oneembodiment, the assay of the microfluidic system is configured andadapted for high-throughput analysis for immunoassay, gene expression,Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) diagnostics, DNA-based tissuetyping, or transcriptional profiling.

Referring to FIG. 5, one embodiment of the microfluidic system comprisesessentially the microfluidic apparatus 31 shown in FIG. 4, and adetector zone upstream of the decoding zone of the micro flow channel32. A reaction detection system 16 is positioned at the detection zone.

When the identifiable LITAB is immobilized with the capture probe, anoptical label can be used for detection of positive or negativereaction. The label can be fluorescence label, chemiluminescence label,or absorption label. In one embodiment, the reaction detection system 16may include a fluorescence detector that measures fluorescence signalfrom the label material on the bead. FIG. 5 shows a mixture of LITABs 11that is introduced into the micro flow channel for fluorescencedetection. When a positive fluorescence signal is detected, it indicatesa positive reaction. The reaction detection system 16 comprises a lightsource 41, optical filter 42 and detector 43. The choice of light sourcedepends on the fluorophore. For example, red diode laser (665 nm), andcompact Argon Laser (488 nm) or Helium laser, can be the light sourcefor Picogreen and Cy 5.5 fluorophore. Optical filter 42 removes thereflected excitation light that is mixes in the fluorescence (e.g.,Picogreen: 525 nm filter and Cy5.5: 694 nm filter). Cy 3 and Cy5 aremost commonly used fluorescence dyes; they can be excited with greenlight (530 nm) and red light (635 nm), respectively. The fluorescenceintensity is commonly measured with a photomultiplier tube as thedetector 43.

An electromagnet (not shown) may be provided at the reaction detectionzone, adjacent the micro flow channel 32, to temporarily immobilize theLITAB 11 for reaction detection. The LITAB 11, which comprises aparamagnetic material, is immobilized in the flow stream by turning onthe electromagnet, and is allowed to flow down the channel by turningoff the electromagnet.

After reaction detection, the LITAB is identified downstream by decodingthe code represented on the LITAB. A controller (not shown) may beprovided to control and coordinate the operation of the decoding systemin relation to the reaction detection system as explained below. Thedecoding system is triggered when a positive fluorescence signal(positive reaction) is detected by the fluorescence detector on aparticular LITAB. The flow rate may be controlled (e.g., by feedbackfrom the two zones) and/or the distance between the reaction detectionzone and the decoding zone may be chosen such that a LITAB passesthrough the reaction detection zone substantially in parallel withanother LITAB passing through the decoding zone. Further, the flow rateand/or the distance between the two zones may be chosen and controlledso that there is no intermediate LITAB present between the two zoneswhen a LITAB is present at the reaction detection zone and another ispresent in the decoding zone.

Some aspects of the invention relate to the LITAB technology and itshigh-throughput screening application in immunoassay, antigen, antibody,pathogens, gene expression, nucleic acid hybridization, cancerdiagnostics, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and etc. Bioassaysbased on LITAB can be used extensively throughout the life sciencesindustry, drug discovery, clinical laboratory tests, andpharmacogenomics. For example, the multiplexed bioassays can be used tomeasure the affinity between a chemical compound and a disease targetfor drug discovery and development, assist physicians in prescribing theappropriate drug therapy to match the patient's unique genetic makeup,and detect genetic variations.

Some aspects of the invention relate to the LITAB is for cost-efficientautomated human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing (the HLA-TYPER system).The HLA-TYPER is designed to capture the amplified alleles ontodigitally bar-coded beads by hybridization, and (iii) to detect theamplified alleles (i.e. identification of the micro-pallets' bar-codesand the quantitation of the fluorescent signal emitted by the excitedbeads. The combination of the highly multiplexed amplificationtechnology with the bead-based and automated microfluidic detection ofthe HLA-alleles offers the two following advantages over current methodsfor high-resolution HLA typing: the system is (i) accurate and (ii)cost-effective through reduction in labor, reagent and consumable costs.Currently there are ˜3000 primer pairs for initial low resolution and˜1500 primer pairs necessary to perform subsequent high-resolution HLAtyping. The platform is amenable to scale and could allow patient DNA tobe screened for hundreds of different ambiguous alleles with highsensitivity and specificity at once without the necessity of tediousrounds of allele screening to increase resolution.

Some aspects of the invention relate to the LITAB is for theidentification and enrichment of segments of circulating DNA in humanblood that harbor mutations associated with cancer. The LITAB enrichesfor specific DNA segments by hybridization to complementary capturesequences on bar coded beads that are subsequently flow-sorted intodifferent microwells. The identification of specific mutant alleles inthese sorted fragments is accomplished via PCR-based screens conductedwith the enriched DNA in each microwell. The method minimizes usererrors and reduces labor, reagent and consumable costs. The platform isamenable to scale and could allow thousands of different DNA segments tobe screened for specific mutations with high sensitivity andspecificity. The advantage of the LITAB system over existing technologyis its sorting potential that enables for individual selection andenrichment of thousands of small fragments of mutant DNA from a highlycomplex genomic DNA suspension in a parallel fashion. This technologywill enable circulating DNA in body fluids to become a powerfulindicator in clinical cancer diagnostics.

Some aspects of the invention relate to the LITAB is to identify geneswhose SNP genotypes or haplotypes correlate with different individualdrug responses, other metabolic processes or disease susceptibility.Thus the ability to quickly and accurately determine genotypes formedically relevant regions will be both critical to understanding theeffects of an individual's genetic profile on these processes, and forthe development of predictive, preventative and personalized medicine.The LITAB technology for use in pharmacogenetic SNP genotyping assaysfor medically relevant genes will allow high-throughput moleculardiagnostic profiling of individuals.

The specific hybridization of DNA probes to capture probe sequencesimmobilized on LITABs was evaluated using oligo sequences from thepublished cDNA sequence of the breast cancer 1 gene, BRCA1 (NCBIAccession number NM_(—)007294). Two 30 bp target sequences correspondingto nucleotides 317-346 from the BRCA1 cDNA sequence were used in thisexperiment.

Target 1 (WILDTYPE): 5′ CACAGTGTCCTTTATGTAAGAATGATATAA 3′ Target 2(SNP): 5′ CACAGTGTCCTTTAcGTAAGAATGATATAA 3′Target 1 (WILDTYPE) contains the wildtype (normal) sequence. Target 2(SNP) contains a mutant sequence with the single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) T→C substituted at position 331. This mutation results in theamino acid substitution of an arginine residue in place of the normalcysteine residue in codon 64 of the BRCA1 protein. Each 30 bp captureprobe was attached to a differently coded bead. The two bead types wereco-hybridized overnight at 50° C. in solution (2×SSC, 0.1% SDS, poly dA)with a Cy5 5′ labeled probe containing the complementary sequence to theTarget 2 (SNP) mutant sequence. Following post-hybridization washes toremove the unbound probe the beads were immobilized on a glass slide andconfocal fluorescence images were recorded. Significantly higher signals(˜10×) were observed for the SNP bead over the WILDTYPE bead indicatingthat the SNP probe hybridization was specific to its complementarycapture probe. Control staining of both bead types with propidium iodideconfirmed that that the distribution of the capture probes was similaron both beads. This confirmed that the difference in Cy5 signal was dueto specific hybridization of the labeled probe to the correct target.Similar results were obtained using the reverse system, where thelabeled probe consisted of a DNA sequence complementary to the WILDTYPEcapture probe sequence

In comparison to the optical reflection or emissive based micro beads inthe prior art, the transmission-based micro beads of the presentinvention not only offer improved contrast in image signal (thetransmitted light would be higher in intensity than reflected light thatdepends on the properties of the surface reflected there from), but alsopresent simpler optical configuration for high efficiency signalcollection. High optical efficiency is important when the micro bead isin micrometer scale (e.g., the longer axis of the bead is 1 mm or less)and is analyzed in a micro flow system. The coded bead of the presentinvention may be manufactured by well developed and reliablesemiconductor processing techniques. This manufacturing approach is alsosuperior to existing methods. Since the bead size and coding pattern canbe precisely controlled by a photomask, structures can thus be easilyproduced reliably in batches. In addition, since this approach isstraightforward, it does not require additional complex chemistry forimplementing coding elements otherwise required in existing microbeads.It is contemplated that the number of codes that can be created with thepresent approach can be large, by varying the number, combination and/orconfiguration of the transmissive and opaque sections on the bead.

While the invention has been described with respect to the describedembodiments in accordance therewith, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various modifications and improvements may bemade without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited by the specific illustrated embodiments, but only by the scopeof the appended claims.

1-38. (canceled)
 39. A bioanalysis system, comprising: one or morerectangular beads having an encoded pattern thereon wherein said bead isfunctionalized with a biological material; and a microflow apparatuscomprising a flow channel supporting a core flow sized to confine asingle rectangular bead to advance at a time, wherein a reaction takesplace on the bead; a reaction detection system at a first section ofsaid flow channel configured to detect the reaction that took place onthe bead; a decoding system at a second section of said flow channelconfigured to decode the encoded pattern on the bead, wherein thedecoding system operates in coordination with the reaction detectionsystem.
 40. The system of claim 38, wherein the flow channel furthersupports a sheath flow about the core flow.
 41. The system of claim 39,wherein the size of the core flow is controlled by adjusting relativeflow rate of the core flow and the sheath flow.
 42. The system of claim39 wherein the beads are paramagnetic.
 43. The system of claim 39wherein said biological material is selected from the group consistingof proteins, nucleic acids, and small biological molecules.
 44. Anapparatus for sorting biological particles comprising (1) rectangularbarcoded beads functionalized with a biological material; (2) at leastone sample loading well configured to provide rectangular barcodedmagnetic beads binding with biological particles to be sorted; (3) onemicro flow channel sized and configured to allow passage of therectangular barcoded magnetic beads, the micro flow channel having asubstantially rectangular cross-section, wherein the rectangularbarcoded magnetic beads are supported by a first solution in a core flowalong the micro flow channel; (4) a set of sheath flow channels in flowcommunication with the micro flow channel, providing a flow of a secondsolution into a sheath flow section of the micro flow channel, to createa first set of sheath flows on first two opposite sides of the core flowof the first solution in a sheath flow section of the micro flowchannel, wherein the first set of sheath flows maintain the rectangularbarcoded magnetic beads in a specific orientation with respect to themicro flow channel as the rectangular barcoded magnetic heads flowthrough said sheath flow section, wherein said first set of sheath flowsprovide lateral alignment of each rectangular bead; (5) barcodedetector; and (6) a sorting system whereby the barcoded beads areflow-sorted into different microwells.
 45. The biological particles ofclaim 44 are cells or nucleic acids.
 46. The apparatus of claim 44wherein the barcode detector comprises (a) an optical barcode reader;and (b) a readout electronics.
 47. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein theoptical barcode reader comprises (i) a microscope; (ii) a light source;(iii) an objective lens; and (iv) a line scan CCD camera or a photondetector.
 48. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein the readout electronicscomprises (i) a microcontroller; or (ii) a digital signal processor.